The re-evaluation of local cultural heritage may turn into an innovative method to discover new opportunities in the present. Brain drain has been a serious issue for many areas, such as Sicily, for many years now. Increasing numbers of youngsters decide to leave their native land because of lack of future perspectives, while unemployment rates often limit the dreams of those remaining.

Through a re-discovery of industrial past in areas with high unemployment levels, Metropolis project aims to show young people the hidden potential of these realties in the present. Metropolis is a response to the need of feeding the hopes of younger generations, which have to emerge in increasingly competitive economies.

Yet, we are often surrounded by so many stereotypes and disinformation that we do not manage to see the realty surrounding us. Certainly, the current international crisis following the spread of Covid-19 will have a strong impact on young unemployment, temporarily locking the dream of many people in Italy and beyond.

These are the main issues that Metropolis addresses, through the creation of interactive maps and didactic tools, able to improve the link between digital competences and the job market. The interactive maps aim to stimulate youngsters’ curiosity about local cultural and history through a game-based learning approach. Quizzes, videos, images will be included in this resource, which has been at the focus of the fourth partners’ meeting, held virtually on 2 April.

The meeting was also useful to introduce a new output: Metropolis Practitioner Toolkit, which will help educators improve their own digital skills and guide them in the use of the other project resources. The Toolkit will contain two components:

• A guide for professionals to improve the integration of digital developments in their guidance work and a specific manual for the use of interactive maps;
• “Jobs of the Future Resource Pack”, which will add other information, tools and resources linked to local labour market, including the identification of the most required jobs and strongest productive sectors, as well as suggestions of training routes. 

In the following months, project partners will conduct research, analysing the changes that the spread of Covid-19 virus may provoke on local labour market.